You will need to sign on with your LLLID (La Leche League ID) before you can post. If you have never claimed your LLLID, create your LLLID now. To sign in, click the LLLID Sign On button in the upper right corner. Enter your LLLID Alias and click the button again.

Switching from a bottle to a sippy cup

My son turns 1 next month and I'm starting to think about a lot of different things including what he will eat at daycare now that he will be hitting the magic 12 month mark. He does extremely well with solids but because he is "underweight" (16lbs) I think it is important to continue pumping while I am at work so he can have that milk at daycare (4 days a week).

I would REALLY like to ditch the bottles and switch to a simple sippy cup (just a cup with a lid, two parts, nothing with ANY silicone/rubber parts). These are the types of sippy cups we have introduced, but right now we only use them at meal times and he treats them more as toys....

I really can't stand to see my pumped milk go to waste, so how can I get my son to drink from a sippy and finish his milk? Is this realistic thinking? This is hard for me since I won't be there and will be relying on my daycare.

I'm open to lots of suggestions. I need to know-- how can I be sure my son is ready to take a sippy at daycare? Should I just switch him cold turkey?

Re: Switching from a bottle to a sippy cup

The key to introducing a sippy is to simply offer it, and wait for the baby to decide he likes it. If you don't want to waste milk, just put small amounts in the sippy, maybe an oz or so of milk. Is the daycare open to your LO continuing to take a bottle? Because I don't really see a huge problem with him continuing to get his milk that way- and if he is "underweight," then to me it makes sense to prioritize nutrition over delivery method. Yes, babies can get attached to bottles and bottles can be problematic for a baby's teeth, yada yada yada, but your LO is still very young and I don't see why he can't keep on with a bottle until he shows greater interest in sippy cups. I know pediatricians get very down on bottles after age 1, but I figure that the artificial cut-off can't work any better with bottles than with any other milestone- some babies are going to be ready for sippy cups before a year, some after. Why treat them all the same?